“Stylish and lively (…) seven stories that alternately make the reader feel nauseous, hold their breath and widen their eyes. If you long for grey, minimalist everyday realism, you’ll have to look elsewhere. (…)  There is not a single dull moment in this debut. Several of the texts in Beastly are so intense that I almost read with one hand over my eyes. (…) Overall, Beastly is a vital and surprising book that really packs a punch.”
Anne Merethe K. Prinos, Aftenposten

“I will defend this book tooth and nail. … Beastly is [Dahl’s] literary debut, something one would hardly believe, given her broad and immeasurably convincing literary repertoire … [In the short story ‘Sap’] we are taken on a journey that becomes increasingly disturbing, exquisitely and chillingly executed psychologically and literarily. … Ellen Støkken Dahl mixes realism and surrealism freely and seamlessly, and even the somewhat slighter texts have transfer value.”
Ingvild Bræin, Dag og Tid

“The author manages in a fascinating way to depict a situation and create a story that with finesse strikes a strange balance between the moving and the repulsive. (…) Within its genre, the narrative escalates in a credible way, twisted and almost perverse at the edges. … a macabre ending that may bring to mind her namesake Roald Dahl. (…) Elements of magical realism, fantasy and the thriller genre add breadth and spice. (…) There are enough grey mice in Norwegian literature. Better a black cat.”
Leif Tore Sædberg, Stavanger Aftenblad

“At their best, the short stories in Beastly show how there is only a thin and porous membrane separating the human and the animal, an insight reinforced by a language that makes humorous use of ambiguity.”
Emilie Johnson Godal, Klassekampen